𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍 ˡᵘᶜᵃˢ ˢᶜᵒᵗᵗ

𝟬𝟯. the alchemist

Jackie walked the halls a bit quicker than usual to catch Nick at his locker. Nick glanced over to her and used the opportunity to mock her, "Jaqueline! So you do remember me." He quoted her from last week, "Remind me again of how many of my games you've missed?"

"I have better things to do than watch you play with balls for two hours," Jackie joked, aware of the way she made Basketball sound, "I'll be there at the next one crybaby." Jackie looked down at the single drawings in his hands, "Woah, when did you become talented?" She poked fun at him.

"Ha," He laughed sarcastically, "These aren't mine."

"Then who are they for?"

On cue, Nick's locker was slammed shut by a fuming Peyton. Nick and Jackie looked startled, "Who do you think you are?!"

"Uh," He looked around, "Nick?"

"I'm just gonna go," Jackie excused herself with a laugh, she turned to walk to the opposite side of the hallway. She was grateful to see Lucas alone, going through his locker, "Great game, Lucas," A girl walked past, keeping her voice flirtatious.

"Well, aren't you just the newest star of Tree Hill," Jackie leaned her back on one of the nearby lockers.

"I guess I am," Lucas looked proud of himself, "I can't believe you missed it."

"I know, but that was because—" Jackie grabbed the fully annotated book from her bag. It was filled with sticky notes and highlighted lines, "—I was busy reading this. I loved it, by the way, I really needed that."

"Wow," Lucas examined the annotations, "I'm glad you appreciate my services."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Are you busy after school tomorrow?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so, why?" Jackie cocked her head to the side.

"I was just wondering if you would like to get some coffee or something and talk about the book, my Mom has a coffee shop—"

"Karen's Cafe, yeah I know, my Mom goes there all the time," Jackie finished, "We can do that. Wait, you sure you don't have to check your calendar or something?" She joked.

In the middle of the two laughing, Brooke Davis, another cheerleader and a friend of Peyton's, strolled up to Lucas' locker, "Hey, Random Girl," Brooke nicknamed her before looking over to Lucas, "Hey, you didn't happen to find my, um—"

Lucas cut her off by holding up a leopard bra on display. She took it with a smile, "Thank you, gorgeous."

"It's Jackie by the way," Jackie informed Brooke.

"Oh," She chuckled, "I was talking to him but you're pretty too." She complimented the girl before walking away. Jackie glanced up at Lucas in disbelief before they both let out a laugh.

"Anyway," Jackie shook her head, "Cafe at, let's say, three o'clock?"

"Three o'clock," He confirmed.

"SO, what happened between you and Peyton the other day?" Jackie asked as she changed her shirt one last time. Nick laid across her bed, throwing and catching his keys. She was currently getting ready to meet up with Lucas at his Mom's cafe. She was feeling a bit nervous but she couldn't pinpoint why, she was wouldn't deny his attractiveness but she didn't like him that way at all.